GHATS

ghats, or ghauts (literally "the landing stairs" from the sea, or "passes"), two ranges of mountains extending along the eastern and western shores of the indian peninsula. the word properly applies to the passes through the mountains, but from an early date was transferred by europeans to the mountains themselves. the eastern ghats run in fragmentary spurs and ranges down the madras coast. they begin in the orissa district of balasore, pass southwards through cuttack and puri, enter the madras presidency in ganjam, and sweep southwards through the districts of vizagapatam, godavari, nellore, chingleput, south arcot, trichinopoly and tinnevelly. they run at a distance of 50 to 150 m. from the coast, except in ganjam and vizagapatam, where in places they almost abut on the bay of bengal. their geological formation is granite, with gneiss and mica slate, with clay slate, hornblende and primitive limestone overlying. the average elevation is about 1500 ft., but several hills in ganjam are between 4000 and 5000 ft. high. for the most part there is a broad expanse of low land between their base and the sea, and their line is pierced by the godavari, kistna and cauvery rivers. the western ghats (sahyadri in sanskrit) start from the south of the tapti valley, and run south through the districts of khandesh, nasik, thana, satara, ratnagiri, kanara and malabar, and the states of cochin and travancore, meeting the eastern ghats at an angle near cape comorin. the range of the western ghats extends uninterruptedly, with the exception of a gap or valley 25 m. across, known as the palghat gap, through which runs the principal railway of the south of india. the length of the range is 800 m. from the tapti to the palghat gap, and south of this about 200 m. to the extreme south of the peninsula. in many parts there is only a narrow strip of coast between the hills and the sea; at one point they rise in magnificent precipices and headlands out of the ocean. the average elevation is 3000 ft., precipitous on the western side facing the sea, but with a more gradual slope on the east to the plains below. the highest peaks in the northern section are kalsubai, 5427 ft.; harischandragarh, 4691 ft.; and mahabaleshwar, where is the summer capital of the government of bombay, 4700 ft. south of mahabaleshwar the elevation diminishes, but again increases, and attains its maximum towards coorg, where the highest peaks vary from 5500 to 7000 ft., and where the main range joins the interior nilgiri hills. south of the palghat gap, the peaks of the western ghats rise as high as 8000 ft. the geological formation is trap in the northern and gneiss in the southern section. ghazali [muhammad ibn muhammad abu hamid al-ghazali] (1058-1111), arabian philosopher and theologian, was born at tus, and belonged to a family of ghazala (near tus) distinguished for its knowledge of canon law. educated at first in tus, then in jorjan, and again in tus, he went to college at nishapur, where he studied under juwaini (known as the imam ul-haramain) until 1085, when he visited the celebrated vizier nizam ul-mulk, who appointed him to a professorship in his college at bagdad in 1091. here he was engaged in writing against the isma'ilites (assassins). after four years of this work he suddenly gave up his chair, left home and family and gave himself to an ascetic life. this was due to a growing scepticism, which caused him much mental unrest and which gradually gave way to mysticism. having secured his chair for his brother he went to damascus, jerusalem, hebron, mecca, medina and alexandria, studying, meditating and writing in these cities. in 1106 he was tempted to go to the west, where the moravid (almoravid) reformation was being led by yusuf ibn tashfin, with whom he had been in correspondence earlier. yusuf, however, died in this year, and ghazali abandoned his idea. at the wish of the sultan malik shah he again undertook professorial work, this time in the college of nizam ul-mulk at nishapur, but returned soon after to tus, where he died in december 1111. sixty-nine works are ascribed to ghazali (cf. c. brockelmann's _gesch. d. arabischen litteratur_, i. 421-426, weimar, 1898). the most important of those which have been published are: a treatise on eschatology called _ad-durra ul-fakhira_ ("the precious pearl"), ed. l. gautier (geneva, 1878); the great work, _ihya ul-`ulum_ ("revival of the sciences") (bulaq, 1872; cairo, 1889); see a commentary by al-murtada called the ithaf, published in 13 vols. at fez, 1885-1887, and in 10 vols. at cairo, 1893; the _bidayat ul-hidaya_ (bulaq, 1870, and often at cairo); a compendium of ethics, _mizan ul-`amal_, translated into hebrew, ed. j. goldenthal (paris, 1839); a more popular treatise on ethics, the _kimiya us-sa`ada_, published at lucknow, bombay and constantinople, ed. h. a. homes as _the alchemy of happiness_ (albany, n.y., 1873); the ethical work _o child_, ed. by hammer-purgstall in arabic and german (vienna, 1838); the _destruction of philosophers_ (_tahafut ul-falasifa_) (cairo, 1885, and bombay, 1887). of this work a french translation was begun by carra de vaux in _museon_, vol. xviii. (1899); the _maqasid ul-falasifa_, of which the first part on logic was translated into latin by dom. gundisalvi (venice, 1506), ed. with notes by g. beer (leiden, 1888); the _kitab ul-munqid_, giving an account of the changes in his philosophical ideas, ed. by f. a. schmolders in his _essai sur les ecoles philosophiques chez les arabes_ (paris, 1842), also printed at constantinople, 1876, and translated into french by barbier de meynard in the _journal asiatique_ (1877, i. 1-93); answers to questions asked of him ed. in arabic and hebrew, with german translation and notes by h. malter (frankfort, 1896); eng. trans., _confessions of al-ghazzali_, by claud field (1909). for ghazali's life see mcg. de slane's translation of ibn khallikan, ii. 621 ff.; r. gosche's _uber ghazzali's leben und werke_ (berlin, 1859); d. b. macdonald's "life of al-ghazzali," in _journal of american oriental society_, vol. xx. (1899), and carra de vaux's _gazali_ (paris, 1902); see arabian philosophy. (g. w. t.) ghazi (an arabic word, from _ghaza_, to fight), the name given to mahommedans who have vowed to exterminate unbelievers by the sword. it is also used as a title of honour, generally translated "the victorious," in the ottoman empire for military officers of high rank, who have distinguished themselves in the field against non-moslem enemies; thus it was conferred on osman pasha after his famous defence of plevna.